Oil guard for sewing machines



OIL GUARD PCB SEWING MACHINES Filed Sept. l3, L940 2 $heets-Sheet l gwuwwm lljilliam barrow Dec. 30, 1941. w, L, BARRON 2,268,319

OIL GUARD FOR SEWING MACHINES Filed Sept. 13, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Dec. 30, 1941 OIL GUARD FOR SEWING MACHINES William L. Barron, Laurence Harbor, N. J., as-

signor to The Singer Manufacturing Company, Elizabeth, N. J a corporation of New Jersey Application September 13, 1940, Serial No.356,572

6 Claims.

This invention relates to an oil-guard and lubricator for a sewing machine, and has for its objective the provision of means for collecting the oil thrown off by the actuating mechanism within the hollow head and conducting the collected oil back into the hollow head and utilizing some of it for lubricating some of the mechanism within the head.

With the above and other objects in view, as will hereinafter appear, the invention comprises the devices, combinations, and arrangements of parts hereinafter set forth and illustrated in the accompanying drawings of a preferred embodiment of the invention, from which the several features of the invention and the advantages attained thereby will be readily understood by those skilled in the art.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a front elevation of the head of a sewing machine embodying my invention, the face-plate being removed.

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the head of the machine shown in Figure 1, part of the head being broken away to expose the mechanism within the head.

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 33 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a perspective view showing the oilguard and a portion of the face-plate.

Figure 5 is a front elevation of the head of the machine with the face-plate attached.

In the embodiment selected for illustration, Iii represents the bracket-arm in which the usual rotary needle-bar shaft 1 I is journaled. The forward end of the shaft it carries the take-up and needle-bar operating cranks I3 and i4, respectively. The needle-bar crank i4 is directly connected by means of the usual link i5 to a needle-bar I6, carrying the eye-pointed needle i9, and journaled in the bearings ii and I8 fixed to the hollow head.

The take-up is of the so-called link or crank operated type and comprises the usual anglelever having rigidly related arms 26 and 2i, the former of which embraces the take-up operating crank l3, and the latter of which is formed with the thread-eye 22. The lever 20, 2! is pivotally connected at the junction of its arms to one end of the anchor-link 23, the opposite end of which is pivoted at 24 to the head ID of the machine. It will be understood that the arm 2| of the take-up lever extends through a slot 25 in the head of the machine and controls the needlethread.

Also located within the hollow head is the usual presser-bar 26 journaled in bearings 21 and 28 through the front bearing of the needle-bar shaft. This wicking, indicated generally as 34', extends through tubing 35' and one of its ends depends so that it may be engaged by the mechanism within the hollow head when this mechanism is operated. It will be understood that a small globule of oil forms on the end of the wick and that as the cranks rotate this globule of oil is wiped off by the action of the actuating mechanism within the head Ill.

The above described construction is fully disclosed in the patent to Richard K-aier, No. 2,206,285, dated July 2, 1940, to which reference may be had for a more complete description of the sewing machine and its lubricating system.

It has been found that when the machine is operated at high speed some of the oil, used for lubrication, is thrown oil by the moving parts within the hollow head. This oil is thrown out in a mist due to the high speed attain-ed by the parts within the hollow head. Part of the mist thrown out by these parts comes out of the slots 25'and 33 through which the take-up lever 2i and needle-thread-guide 32 extend. To overcome this dimculty, there is secured to the needlebar bushing i8, by a screw iii, a sheet-metal oilguard, indicated generally as 34. This guard is formed'with a U-shaped portion 35, which embraces the needle-bar bushing iii, a forwardly extending portion 36 and a laterally extending portion 3'1 having its depending end 3? tapered and curved rearwardly to form a chute for delivering oil to a sump 38 located in the lower end of the hollow head. The laterally extending portion 31 is disposed between the cranks i3 and I4 and the slot 33 within the hollow head so as to prevent oliltfggm being thrown by these parts through the s o Fixed to the hollow head ill by the screws 39, is a face-plate 40 formed with an ear 4| which has a vertical wall 42 extending towards the front of the machine, and an overhanging wall 43 which is curved downwardly at 44 to form a hood which acts as an oil-guard and also protects the operator from injury by the take-up lever. Beneath the overhanging wall 43 there is formed a ledge 45 which is inclined downwardly so that the oil collected and condensed by the walls 42 and 43 will run down this ledge through a slot 48 formed in the face-plate 40 and back into the hollow-head.

The inside of the. face-plate 40 is formed with a lug 41 provided with a slot 48 and a groove 49. When the face-plate is put in position on the machine, the slot 48 receives the grooved portion 48', formed in the upper end of the wall 38 of the guard 34, and the oil which flows down the ledge 45 enters the groove 45 and flows down along the walls 38 and 31 to the sump 38 within the hollow head. For the purpose of lubricating the reoiprocatory needle-bar, a wick 50 is threaded through the walls 36 and 31 of the guard and the oil as it travels down along the walls 36 and 31 saturates the wick 50 so that its free end which lies against the needlebar, will adequately lubricate the needle-bar. The end II of the wick is also located so that it will be engaged by the lower end of the needlebar link l5 just as the link reaches the end of its upward movement. This arrangement provides lubrication for the bearing surface between the lower end of the link i5 and the pin it which is fixed to the needle-bar.

From the foregoing it will be obvious that the construction described and illustrated serves the three-fold purpose of: 1st, protecting the operator from injury by the take-up lever; 2nd, collecting and preventing the escape of oil from the openings in the hollow-head; 3rd, returning the collected oil to the interior of the hollowhead and utilizing the collected oil for the purpose of lubricating bearing surfaces within the hollow-head.

Having thus set forth the nature of the invention, what I claim herein is:

1. A sewing machine having in combination, a hollow head, a take-up lever extending through a slot in said head, mechanism within the hollow head for actuating said take-up lever, means for supplying oil to said actuating mechanism and a guard located on the outside of the hollow-head and over the take-up lever slot for col-' lecting oi] thrown through the slot by the actuating mechanism and returning it to the hollowhead.

2. A sewing machine having in combination, a hollow-head provided with a slot, actuating mechanism within the hollow head, means for supplying lubricant to said hollow head, a guard located on the outside of "said head and overlying said slot for collecting lubricant thrown through the slot by the actuating mechanism, and means formed on said guard for returning the collected lubricant into the hollow head.

3. A sewing machine having in combination, a hollow head provided with a slot, actuating mechanism within the hollow head, means for supplying lubricant to said hollow-head, a guard located on the outside of said head and overlying said slot for collecting lubricant thrown through the slot by the actuating mechanism, said guard comprising a forwardly extending wall and an overhanging wall having a portion curved downwardly to form a hood, and an inclined ledge formed on said walls for conducting oil collected by said walls to a point within the hollow head.

4. A sewing machine face-plate formed with a laterally extending ear-shaped guard having a laterally extending portion which is adapted to overlie the take-up slot in the hollow-head of the machine.

5. The combination with asewing machinehaving a hollow head provided with slots through which moving parts of the stitch-forming mechanism extend, and lubricated mechanism within the head for actuating the stitch-forming mechanism, of a guard located within the head, a wick carried by said guard and in contact with a moving part of the mechanism within the head and means for collecting oil thrown oil by the mechanism within the head and conducting it to said wick.

6. The combination with asewingmachinehaving a hollow-head provided with a slot through which moving parts of the stitch-forming mechanism extend. and lubricated mechanism within the head for actuating the stitchdorming mechanism, of a guard located within the head, a wick carried by said guard and in contact with a moving part 01' the mechanism within the head, a second guard located exteriorly of said head and overhanging the slot in a position to collect oil thrown through the slot by the lubricated mechanism within the head, and means to conduct the oil collected by said second guard back into the hollow-head.

WIILIAM L. BARRON. 

